Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.The man shown in a surveillance video being taken down by Omaha police has filed a citizen’s complaint against the officers.
Robert A. Wagner said he filed the complaint Tuesday morning. But, he said, it isn’t the first time he has contacted the department internal affairs unit about the incident.
Wagner, 35, was arrested May 29 outside Creighton University Medical Center. The arrest was captured on the hospital’s surveillance camera and aired last week on public access TV, immediately sparking outrage.
Two Omaha police officers have been placed on paid administrative leave as a result of the arrest. The police department announced the officers’ leave on Monday, but declined to name the two.
The World-Herald has learned that one of the officers was the woman seen on a videotape repeatedly kicking Wagner while he was pinned on the ground by several other officers. A person familiar with the case identified the woman as Officer Jackie Dolinsky, who has been on the force since late 2007.
Lt. Darci Tierney said both were placed on leave over the weekend while the department continues an internal investigation.
In an interview Tuesday, Hayes said the timing of the decision to place the officers on administrative leave was coincidental to the public uproar. The timing stemmed only from investigators needing time be thorough and follow the process for internal inquiries laid out in the police union contract.
Hayes asked the public for patience while the investigation continues. He estimated it would conclude in no more than a couple of weeks.
Wagner said that since his arrest, he has had contact with Dolinsky and her sister, Officer Jodi Sautter. He said Sautter is the officer who Tased him in the hospital parking lot on the day his cousin died from a gunshot wound.
Wagner was arrested on a charge of assaulting an officer. Police have said he pushed and punched an officer in the parking lot - just outside the view of the surveillance camera.
Wagner said a couple months after the arrest, he was with his girlfriend, Chenea Starks. He was using a payphone near his house on July 26, and saw Sautter and Dolinsky drive by. He and his girlfriend got into a car. The officers made a U-turn, then pulled over Wagner and Starks.
Wagner said he told Dolinsky he recognized her voice from the scene of his arrest. Her response, according to Wagner: “I didn’t know it was you Mr. Wagner.”
The next day, Wagner called the department’s internal affairs unit to report that he felt the officers were harassing him. They ticketed his girlfriend for failure to use a turn signal and no proof of insurance.
Wagner said he had an official interview with internal affairs on Friday.
City Prosecutor Marty Conboy reviewed the tape from Wagner’s arrest and declined to charge the officers involved. But on Tuesday, Conboy said he continues to review the incident as more information comes to light.
Omaha Police Chief Alex Hayes requested that the tape be turned over to Conboy in late June, saying “something on that tape disturbed me.”
He asked the public for patience as the investigation is completed. He estimated it will be completed in a couple weeks.
Contact the writer:
402-444-1275, todd.cooper@owh.com
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